One of my least favorite sitcom plots is any plot which requires characters who are not normally idiots to behave like idiots in order to function. There is an exception to this, when the characters have a good, in-character reason to behave like idiots (frequent source of this: a character's ex they have no power against). "Big Glory" was not one of those exceptions.

Much like the pilot, "Big Glory" has some truly terrible character moments for its leads. It's not quite as bad on that front for two reasons, namely that at least in this episode they're idiots in equal measure, and this time, eventuallyt, they both realize they're behaving like punchlines instead of human beings. On the other hand, where the pilot remained watchable despite its god awful character arcs thanks to a few very strong jokes, "Big Glory" took a step backwards on the comedy front.

A to Z's central problem, though, isn't comedy; it's still vaguely in the neighborhood of funny. The real crisis is that it's core relationship is a mess. The writing around it is being done by someone I can only assume has never been in, or even in the same room as, an actual human relationship. It's also being done by someone with a very low opinion of women, as this episode asks us to accept the supposedly reasonable, dating-phobic realist Zoe going on what is essentially a spite-date. Additionally, while Ben Feldman is fine as Andy, Miloti is turning straw into gold as Zelda, and routinely blows him off the screen. They have chemistry, but only when she's talking. Worse, the show is almost never funny when the two of them share the screen. The relationship is a train wreck on just about every level, which is a huge problem since the entire show revolves around that relationship.

It's also a huge shame, because in addition to Miloti, there's a lot of good stuff around the fringes. The supporting cast at Andrew's office could ably carry a decent work-com (though Hong Chau and Parvesh Cheena need to be given more to do), and Lenora Crichlow continues to compete with Miloti for show MVP honors despite being given absolutely no good material to play. The B-plot about a Tinder-ish dating app managed to come off as relatively fresh despite a slew of similar episodes already this season (Manhattan Love Story did the worst of the bunch), and featured a much higher caliber of comedy than the rest of episode (the bathtub scene alone has two clever, understated sight gags in addition to generally good writing).

Speaking of comedy, this episode is still decently funny, at least compared to most of the other sitcoms I'm reviewing this Fall. It's far from hilarious, and it's not even as funny as the pilot (which was pretty funny, but by no means Brooklyn Nine Nine or Bojack Horseman funny). The show relies too often on Henry Zebrowski's Stu (one of approximately a million bearded chauvinist sidekicks debuting this season) for its punchlines. Zebrowski is game, but his character's underwritten and inhabits a very narrow comic realm, rendering him much funnier in smaller doses and tedious whenever he's given too many lines in a given scene or sequence. Christina Kirk's cartoonish super villain Lydia hits more than she misses, but has a similar problem in that- so far, at least- she's really only the one thing and that can only be funny so many times in a row without a pallet cleanser. As mentioned above, Chau and Cheena are the highlights, and Cheena's at least given a plot line this week, even if it's one in which his job is mostly just to react to Kirk's megalomania. The episode is more or less always funny when the camera's on him.

All in all, A to Z remains roughly what it was a week ago; poorly plotted and characterized, but shockingly well-acted (mostly), and with surprising comic chops- especially given the quality of the rest of the writing. And yes, though I'm getting tired of writing this about nearly every show, it's still over-narrated. It's not much worth watching yet, and it may never be, though five of it's core cast of seven (six for eight if you count narrator Katey Sagal) are very strong and none are bad; if you're looking for hope, that's where to look. Writers are a lot easier to replace than actors, so maybe a couple of strategic firings can turn this show from wasted potential into something actually worth watching. Fingers crossed that a bunch of (presumably) hard-working people working their hardest in an extremely difficult and competitive field lose their jobs suddenly so that we might be more capably entertained, I guess.